Siri's "shortcomings" focus of possible Canadian class action suit

0.phoneArena
06 Apr 2012, 22:48posted on

A law suit in Regina is looking to file a class action suit on behlaf of those who feel that they were somehow rooked by Apple into believing that Siri was a fully functional personal assistant; the one plaintiff names says that "substantial injury" was done to those who have joined the class...

I think it depends on how apple advertised it. If it was saying that it was not fully functional, or was still in the development phase, Apple will most likely win.
But if it was just said that was in "Beta", that will depend on how wildspread is the term. It is possible that those who is not familiarized with the term can be misled.

Thought I was the only one who would come on here and feel that way. Besides, what would stop class action suits from popping up all over the place based on disappointment in an electronic device if this goes through. Dangerous precedent to be setting.

11.JeffdaBeat (unregistered)

I agree the lawsuit is stupid and will probably get dismissed. But it almost makes me wonder if therei s a problem underneath that needs to be address. Apple advertises Siri as part of the iPhone...one of the most well known features of the phone in fact. The vast majority of people with iPhones believe it's a finished product...although some of them think it's defective. But to Apple, it's still a beta feature.

How much does a company have to promote that a product is still in the testing phase if they release it as part of a finished product? How much can they advertise? Whose responsibility is it to inform the customer, Apple or the customer themselves? What level of usability does the product have to have to be both in beta and be advertised as a feature of the larger product?

The reason I ask is because what stops a company from going further? I could technically release a phone and say it can record higher than 1080p...but it's still in beta so right now it only records in 2fps. That's not fair to the consumer. We saw something like this a few years ago when Sprint debuted the HTC Mogul and said it was their first EVDO-Rev A, but almost didn't release the update for the faster speed.

as far as your question, if i were a "company exec" and we were promoting such poorly working items like your 2fps camera, i would prepare for a backlash and a drop in sales. But Siri isnt that bad. Honestly,I think the most that needed to be done was to put "BETA" under the Siri logo, and have a pop up page the first time you use SIRI that tells you why its beta, and that you agree to it. Bam, no lawyer clause in the agreement. None of this would have happened.

This is the dark side to having such a mega devoted fanbase. Any minor flaw and they come after you like you killed their children. Not because you hurt them, but because you hurt their belief in your perfection. People are weird.

Well it is still listed as beta on the website, but for me, I certainly wouldn't want a beta tag under my Siri logo. It would ruin the logo on the phone. The pop-up would help stop this lawsuit, but I doubt it will get anywhere anyway

Agreed, I'm not a big Apple fan, but Siri is the best voice recognition software I've come across. If anyone expects it to be anywhere near perfect, they're idiots. Show me anything that's really as easy to use as it is in the commercials.....

This is a BS lawsuit! People knew what Siri was before purchasing the phone, and if you didn't you should have invested 2 minutes to do your homework before buying the phone. I don't think it matters whether the advertised as beta or not, no technology will be 100% perfect all the time. Not to mention it comes with a dual core processor and an 8 MP camera, so if you just bought the phone just to get Siri, and now your unhappy with your purchase...that's your own fault! When I owned the Droid X, I waited to see what the DX 2 looked like. When I saw it was basically the same phone with just a few spec bumps I passed on it, and that what these people should have done or returned within that trail period like every other person who made a bad cell phone choice does.

not everyone is like us,who go on tech sites,read reviews,research before purchase etc...many of people who have got the iphone is because its an iphone and because of the ''cool'' ads...i have seen the ads here in uk and in everyone single one they promote siri as the main feature and advertise it as a complete product/feature that works perfectly when in reality it doesnt. in the ads it doesnt even specify that siri is in beta,if they had then no one would even have a case against apple..but the fact that apple mass advertised siri as a complete product,am not at all surprised to hear that people are vexed about this and feel they have been misled..here in the uk apple are being investigated by watchdog for the very same thing as apple in some ads advertise siris location features yet here in the uk you cant even use most of the location features advertised.

Your right. WE and people like us who love tech are always in the know. But average consumers have got to stop being lazy, and if they don't they need to learn how to deal with the consequences of the actions or in this case inactions. And stop whining to the courts because they just had to have the new iPhone, Droid, WP7 or whatever.

Im sorry but the idea that this feature was anything but beta from the start is ridiculous. Because of this, a lawsuit pertaining to significant harm or injury is just as ridiculous. This really is a waste of court's time. How were they harmed by them going into a store and buying it? How is Apple responsible for an uninformed customer? This is worse than patent trolls. Seriously.

WTF???!!! You mean Siri doesnt work as easily,or as fast and effective as Apple protrays in tv ads???? Im Shocked!!

Apple certainly doesnt mention Siri being beta anywhere in the ads,they make it seems revolutionary,that saying I think the court case is ridiculous and have no sympathy for the ifans as they bought the iphone stupidity thinking it changes everything again and want to sue apple now that it doesnt. Even the most ill informed of society these days should know that apple has a history of over exaggerating and misleading people with its products,its like the ifans that kept coming back into us complaining to us saying their iphone 4 kept dropping calls,the antenna gate was all overe prime time news channels,Steve jobs did a huge presentation about and yet these ifans say they never knew!

Hey, anyone notice anything ... STRANGE going on here? This Apple article is full of Android users coming to the defense of the company iPhone fans claim we are always bashing! Maybe us Android users arent as bad as many think we are.

I think the basis of this lawsuit depends on the seriousness of how Canada addresses marketing advertising. When I view the ads for the iPhone4s' Siri operation, I can easily become overly attracted to the "Flawless" power and diversity of the program. Yet, when utilized in reality, the "Flawless" attributes become less evident in the end user experience.

Ignorance from consumers is no excuse in the court of law. However, a company exploiting a product above and beyond actual limits, can be percieved as false advertising. Something we in the U.S. have taken lightly.

How is it false advertising? The only thing they show in the commercial is what it can actually do. Sure they speed up the time. If they didn't, they couldn't pack in nearly as much content in the commercial. Look on any phone commercial. It will almost always say that it has been sped up

Well they can't sue for the difference money wise from the 4s to the 4. The 4s does have a way better GPU and a dual core CPU. That's a step up in my book and Siri is just a software feature. Even thought they advertise it as a selling point, People NEED to educate them selves about the difference in both the phones. This just means people were stupid enough to buy the iPhone 4s JUST for the Siri feature.

To be honest this is stupid, but if you slap the bull you must fight the bull. I have read a large number of post about apple suing for some lame stuff, some more lame than this. This is the life that was chosen.

Even though I feel lawsuits like this are a waste of tax payers money, I feel that companies getting sued over false advertising will hopefully reduce the amount that it happens. Companies are always advertising features that their products are incapable of performing. This practice needs to stop. And Apple BUILT the 4S's reputation on Siri. And EVERY COMMERCIAL made Siri out to be a fully functional assistant that could say and do every task you asked it. They made it out to be almost human, when in fact it's a glorified voice recognition suite.

Number one, you shouldn't be RELYING on a cell phone for anything. Believe it or not, they are a luxury. Just because your need for instant gratification was not satisfied, does not mean you should sue the company who is trying to provide it.
Number two - if Siri didn't understand you or gave you the wrong information, maybe you should try speaking more clearly and not using lingo or regional dialect that it cannot understand eh?

Okay, I'm acutally excited that Apple is getting sue'd for a dumb lawsuit.. Do you guys know how many DUMB Throw-away lawsuits that Apple has done?? Apple tries sueing other phone companies just because their phone is black and rectangle... seriously?!?!?! And when something as sad as this hits Apple, everyone is like ohhhhh noooo dont sue Apple! What is apple, a god or something? no, they are a corporation that steals you blind because they advertise really well. The Iphone for example, Apple stole "Prada" and then called it their own and advertised it and then sued the manufacture of Prada because they copied their product aka the Iphone.... Wake up stupid ifans..

Apple should counter sue for frivolous lawsuits and a waste of time on the part of the court. Its despicable you bought it, you paid for it, if you were that concerned you should have tested it before you bought it!! To anyone that has wasted the time of the court you should be ashamed of yourself.

Perhaps it might have something to do with the fact that in Canada Siri has extremely limited capabilities, like where something is or directions to somewhere. You get told "I'm sorry I can't search locations in Canada" not it's speed or accuracy, we get the same commercials advertising it as the US does but never does apple mention that half of the functions don't work outside of the US.

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